This week I’m going to share with you how I structure my rent to own/lease option deals to make sure I get paid.

First off, remember that the beauty of the lease option is there are three
basic yet different ways to make money. You can make money from the “option money” a
tenant/buyer pays you when they move into the place. You can make money from
the cash flow on the monthly rent you collect. And of course, the big payday is when you
sell the house to the tenant/buyer.

Let’s begin with the big payday when you sell to a tenant/buyer. When I’m
deciding to do a lease option deal. I want to make sure there is at least a $30k spread on the back end for me. What this means is that if I get a house under option for $150k, I want to be able to sell it to my tenant/buyer for a bare minimum of $180k. In today’s market I try to get a $50k spread, but the lowest I’ll go is $30k.

Of course, these days you have to remember… The back end money is “bonus” money. When the market was hot several years ago, tenants were always exercising their options and it was easy to sell a house to a tenant/buyer. But now, it’s a lot tougher to get a tenant/buyer qualified and options are being exercised less frequently.

Now let’s get to the cash flow of the property. I like to make $200 a month
cash flow when I do a lease option deal. If my deal with the landlord requires
me to pay $1,000 a month in rent, then I want to be able to rent out the
property to the tenant/buyer for no less than $1,200 a month rent. In fact, one
of the best ways to ensure you get this $200 a month spread is to tell the
landlord that it’s company policy you make $200 a month or else your company
can’t do the deal. Remember depending on your option agreement with the owner,
you may be responsible for repair and maintenance on the property.

Also, something important that I do, and recommend you do too… Is that I always pay the landlord’s mortgage for him. I never send him a check, because I want to make sure the mortgage is getting paid on the property and he’s not just pocketing my money. For instance, on one deal I did the landlord’s payment was only about $600 a month, but my agreement stated I would pay him $800 a month. (I rented the house for $1,000 a month.) For this particular property I mailed the mortgage for $600 every month and then mailed the landlord a check for $200.

The final way you can get paid is from option money when a tenant/buyer moves into the house. When the market was booming you could get several thousand dollars. But now it’s usually about $5,000. I try not to get any less than that, but there have been times when a seller could only put down $4,000 or so and I had them make up the difference by sending me an extra $100 a month until the option money became $5,000.

Don’t forget, you can structure your lease option deals a million different ways, but the reason I do things this way is because not only does it make me a good amount of money, but I also have a cash cushion built in, just in case I made a mistake and calculated the numbers slightly off.

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About Ceno Wilson

Charlotte real estate investor. I have a strong desire to creat win/win home buying and selling agreements. I am particularly good at looking outside the box, when structuring agreements. I have had great success working with single mother in my area, through the NSP and the CRA programs. I believe that neighborhoods have greater stability when homeowners are kept in these neigborhoods. I am always looking to partner with local investors.
My mission is to help rebuild our communities by renovating existing homes and providing good quality affordable housing for both retail buyers and the rental market. And to help reclaim our cities through purchasing and renovating existing homes and offering homeownership to those who otherwise might have a harder time realizing the american dream.

Leasing with option or rent to own or rent with option to purchase all mean the same though each may be done a little different. They are still the best ways for buyers and sellers to get together in this tough real estate market. Lending guides lines are tightening even as I post on this subject. Fannie and Freddie are making it very difficult for lenders to lend unless you can show proof that what you’re borrowing you don’t really need.